The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1887-05-07

the south of the pond I was too intent
upon wiping the perspiration from my
face to note the presence Of d pair OF
black woodpeckers (Hylotonus plea
tusj busily working on rotten log;
but rs it was to sketch this species and
the ivory-bill that / had visited the
place, was not long in locating them.
1t would be of some interest, perhaps,
if should describe some of the almost
comical difficulties that arise in sketch
ing wild birds, but just now let me record
few well-established but little known
facts of bird-life, some of which the
days work in question gave me the
chance to. observe and verify. Never
before had I such undisturbed oppor-
tunity to make notes upon the sense of
hearing in the woodpecker. The huge
birds allowed me to creep to within
twenty feet of them and observe them
from the partial cover of small bush.
They were on the side of the log, and
their method was to give the dry sur
face of the wood smart blow or two
with their beaks, after which they would
listen for moment very intently, hold
ing their beaks meanwhile in contact
with the log. No doubt this contact
was great aid to hearing, the mandi-
bles conducting the sound of the NOV
ing insects to the ears of the listeners.
l became quite satisfied for the first
time that birds of this family depend
more upon the sense of hearing than
upon that of smelling in locating their
prey.
There is nothing like sketching to
fasten in ones memory the motions, at
titudes and minor habits of birds. If
you are hastily penciling in the out
lines of your wild model, and just at
the critical moment he changes his
position in order to accommodate q
habit, You are sure to recollect it ever
after. So it is by means of the same
species that you fix in your mind GER
tain peculiar traits of its nature not
manifest to the casual observer.
Sketches, no matter how crude, so that
they are true in effect and made from
the living wild bird, are in themselves
the best possible notes. of observation.
For instance, a mere scratchy outline
of hylotomus, with his bill resting
against the wood he has been drum
ming, and his whole attitude indicating
the most intense listening. is better
than any amount of descriptive writing
as q reminder. But there are many
bird actions, obscurely indicative Of
deep-seated, hereditary habit, which
can not be embodied in sketch. The
peculiar, snake-like darling of the
woodpecker's tongue, for example, is
such an action. l watched one of the
birds peck deep hole into the log un-
til he reached saw-worm. Instantly
he thrust out his slender tongue to
great length and speared the prey with
it. The motion was peculiarly reptilian.
This habit Of capturing insects with the
tongue is exenplified to perfection in
the common toad, which is amazingly
expert in the performance. The toad's
tongue is loose at the rear, however,
and is turned over to be thrown for
ward, while the woodpecker's is pre-
hensile, like an adder's. This suggests
the fact that birds and reptiles are of
kin, fact beautifully demonstrated by
Huxley. Take the eyes Of the two and
compare them and, not only do they
look alike, they possess peculiar men,
beers in common. Reptiles and birds
are the only animals having the nicti-
tating membrane-a filmy, skin-like
substance which may be drawn at will
over the front of the eye. To me this
methodo of winking has always appeared
demoniac to a degree. No bird has
warm and loving eye. and most of the
beautiful wild species glare at you with
a look positively evil. Ut course this
popularity is not noticeable except on
close observation. / often use strong
binocular glass, and am by this means
enabled to make very minute examine
ton of birds without at all disturbing
them.
Naturalists have often remarked upon
the singularly CONSTRUCTED neck of the
woodpecker and the development of the
shoulder muscles in most of the species;
but have seen no adequate description
of the manner in which these birds use
their strong wedge-shaped bills in peck
ing. Ordinarily the performance is
mere hammer-like pounding, in which
the neck is the chief motor; but when
the wood is very hard and the blows
must have great force, the bird stiffens
It's entire vertcbral column and makes
its strokes with all the strength of its
entire body. In this way pileated
woodpecker, or its larger brother. the
ivory-bill, will actually chisel deep holes
into the toughest green wood, and the
sound of the strokes can be heard for
long way in still forest. once took
possession Of deserted cabin in South